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PUBLIC DOCUMENT.] (Appendix.) 



[NO. 8. 



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REPORT 



FINxVNCE COMMITTEE, 



ME3I0RIAL OF CITIZENS OF SOUTH KINGSTOWN, 



FOR A MONUMENT TO THE MEMORY OF 



GEN. ISAAC P. RODMAN. 




PROVIDENCE: 

ALFRED ANTHONY, PRINTER TO THE STATE, 
1864. 



REPORT 



The finance committee, upon the memorial of Stephen C. 
Fiske, Sylvester Robinson and others, for the erection of a 
monument over the grave of Brigadier General Isaac P. 
Rodman, most respectftdly report : 

That they have given most earnest attention to the sub- 
ject, and confess that the impulses of their hearts would be 
most gratified by recommending Legislative action in re- 
sponsive harmony with said memorial ; but while their grat- 
itude prompts the indulgence of all reasonable requests, in 
honoring the patriotic, the brave and departed hero, they 
are constrained to remember that Rhode Island owes a debt 
of gratitude to a long list of her gallant sons, who have- laid 
their lives upon the altar of our country, in the time of her 
extreme need. 

The first outcropping of sedition, conspiracy and treason 
the firing upon and capturing a national fort, was met by 
Rhode Island with the most solemn pledges that the last 
man and the last dolkir should be forthcoming, if need be, 
in crushing so foul and atrocious a Rebellion. 

Many a sanguinary field attests to the fidelity with which 
this pledge has been kept. The battle of Bull Run, the 
gory fields of Antietam, of Fredericksburg, and of Gettys- 
burg, attest to the undaunted bravery and self-sacrifice of 
Rhode Island's sons. 

The records of our Adjutant General furnish a long list of 
illustrious names, to wit, Slocum, Ballon, Tower, Pres- 
cott, Smith, Curtis, Ives, Babbitt, Sayles, Brown, Milne, Kelly, 
Sherman, Bates, Carr, Carpenter, Bartholomew, Manton, Til- 
linghast. Gladding, Prouty, Pierce, Taylor, Sawyer, Ains- 
worth, Gove, Chedel, Nicholai, Hopkins, Briggs, Pendleton, 
Holbrook, Searkis, A. L. Smith, Kellen, the indomitable, 
Stevens, and finally the heroic Rodman, foremost in the 
fight. 



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4 PUBLIC D0CU3JE 013 700 101 9 4 

These names are too fresh in our memories to be recalled 
without deep emotiou. Of the rank and file, who have 
fallen, the list is too lons^ to be recounted here, but the fu- 
ture historian of this frat]»icidal war, will find many in- 
stances of heroic daring, and steady, persistent courage, that 
cannot be surpassed, if they can be paralled in any war. 

Rhode Island owes them a debt of gratitude that she can 
never fully repay. Testimonials they should have. All that 
grjinite and marble, bronze and gold can do to perpetuate 
the memory of their patriotism, heroism and self-sacrifice, 
should be done ; done not only in high appreciation of their 
priceless offerings, but as an incitement to patriotic duty to 
young men of coming time. 

It may be that other names will be added to the list be- 
fore the armies of this wicked rebellion shall be crushed ; 
but when tliis is done, your committee recommend that a 
monument, becoming the affluence of the State, and the 
memory of her illustrious heroes in this war with the rebels, 
be speedily erected ; that the site for the same be some cen- 
tral and prominent spot, where citizens can most often be- 
hold it, and where the rising' g^meration can read the names 
of their I)enefactors, catch their spirit, and ponder upon the 
])riceless legac}^ of freedom bequeathed to them by their 
valor. 

Let not this Honorable Senate, by any hasty, diffusive ac- 
tion, divert the people from tlie single purpose now in 
hand — the overthrow of the rebellion and the preservation 
of this Union. 

A liberal appropriation has just been made by this Gen- 
eral Assembly^ to gather all the materials necesary for the fu- 
ture historian' of these times and this war. Our heroes shall 
not be forgotten. With the return of peace, a noble monu- 
ment shall be erected, and through all time the blessings of 
Constituti(^ial Liberty and of universal freedom shall be 
perpetuated. .•• 

WILLIAM GROSVENOR, 

ALLEN C. MATHEWSON. 

^^AMUEL AV. CHURCH, [ Committee. 

THOMAS A. WHITMAN, 

CHARLES W. HOWLAND, 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




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